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Record #3992
Name :
: Constance Marjorie READER (1904 - 1991)
  aka : Connie


Father
:
Mother
:
BMD and other details
Date of Birth
: 17 Apr 1904

Marriage (1)
:
Marriage (2)
:

Date of Death
: 1991
Abode (1) : Place of BirthEngland

Edmonton, Middlesex,
Abode (2) : Place of Death / BurialCanada, St Thomas
Sailing Information
Date of Arrival
: 29 Mar 1914
Country
: Canada

Ship
: Sicilian

Placement Family
:
Homes / Agencys
Institution (GB)
:

Agency
: Barnardos
NotesA birth registration was found for Connie Reader: Year of Registration: 1904; Quarter of Registration: Apr-May-Jun; District: Edmonton; County: Essex, Hertfordshire, Middlesex; Volume: 3a; Page: 563. (Parents: Elisha Reader (1867-1905) and Julia Helouisa Haykins (1867-1912); siblings: Lillian Reader (Boyd); Ethel Reader; Hilda Reader; William Reader; Julia Reader; Beatrice Mabel Reader; and Stanley Reader.)

In 1914, Constance Reader, 9, arrived at St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, along with a group of 98 Barnardo girls en route to Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.

From her granddaughter, Sue Thomson on information received from Barnardos:

It would appear that one sister attempted to contact [Connie] through Barnardos in 1919 ([Connie] went into Care in 1913 and was shipped to Canada in 1914). There was correspondence on her file from her requesting that she not be contacted by Barnardos as she did not wish her husband or her husbands family to know that she was a Barnardo's girl. There is correspondence in 1966 from a neice, living in Perth Western Australia attempting to trace her and her brother Stanley. Stanley also went into care in Sept of 1913 but not with Barnardos with Arethusa in England. According to correspondence in my grandmother's file he remained in care there until 1917 and then basically disappeared. But the most interesting and heartwringing document was a letter from [Connie] to Mrs Hall, her niece, in response to a Barnardos inquiry requesting information about her sister and other brothers and sisters she might have. This letter was written on November 1, 1966 and requested any information on any living relatives. My grandmother thought she had NONE. Barnardos did not tell her that she had 5 sisters and 2 brothers even though they had all their names and addresses as of 1914. My grandmother died in 1991 never knowing that she had all these relatives. She only knew of her sister Beatrice Mabel and her brother Stanley and this information came from her niece in 1966. She and Mabel were never able to meet again before their deaths. Her niece Mrs Josephine Hall is now believed to be living in the US. Since I decided to pursue this information I often wondered if [Connie] would approve or disapprove of this quest. Having read this single letter I know now that this knowledge was very important to her.

Education, particularly for women, was so important to her. She liked to keep track of her children and grandchildren. She had a little tobacco tin of money that she saved and kept under her mattress and to those who went on to school she would dip into the box to help pay tuition costs. She raised 9 children of her own and 3 of other peoples who had fallen through the cracks. The money in the tobacco tin came from laundry that she took in "in her spare time". She dipped into that box every September for 4 years to help me with my education. She passed away 11 years ago but I feel like she has been with me every step of the way. That little tobacco tin had enough money in it to pay for her funeral. Connie Marjorie Reader was independent to the last day of her life.

Connie Reader requested for a change in placement in 1922. At about the same time, there was a letter from the last placement complaining when she ran away that her employer no longer had any help. The employer paid Barnardos the balance of her salary, $3.00, and stated that she hoped that Connie would make good on it. This woman requested another girl immediately and was in fact told she would have to go on a lengthy waiting list.

Constance / Connie married in 1923 in Ontario and died in St Thomas, Ontario, Canada, in 1991. 
ContributorsCreated : 2008-08-07 20:10:14 / From original database

Last Updated : 2009-02-01 11:03:27 /

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Readers Comments

Surnames starting with:   A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z  4 Entries        
IDNameDOBPlace of birthArrivals & ShipsDest.AgencyFamily links
3992 READER, Constance Marjorie1904ENG,     Mar 1914 : Sicilian CAN Barnardos  
24048 READER, Ernest1906ENG,     Jun 1916 : Scandinavian CAN Middlemore  
6099 READER, Hilda1881ENG,    , Romford Aug 1895 : Numidian CAN Maria Rye  
25937 READER, Jesse William Reginald1914ENG, KEN Feb 1924 : Euripides AUS Fairbridge Homes